Skip to main content

We all know that there are ice sheets melting in multiple places around the globe, this is something that is becoming an increasingly alarming issue. While a lot of people are ignoring the problem altogether, studies are showing that if nothing is done soon it could be too late.

A study that was recently published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences actually went so far as to note that the sea-level rise we’re seeing has accelerated to a point where we as a whole will see ‘profound consequences.’ Within the next 80 years, the worst could become reality and thus leaving us all at least 6.5 feet higher when it comes to this increase. Places near water would be most affected as they would no longer be able to remain liveable.

The significance of this study is listed as follows:

Future sea level rise (SLR) poses serious threats to the viability of coastal communities but continues to be challenging to project using deterministic modeling approaches. Nonetheless, adaptation strategies urgently require quantification of future SLR uncertainties, particularly upper-end estimates. Structured expert judgment (SEJ) has proved a valuable approach for similar problems. Our findings, using SEJ, produce probability distributions with long upper tails that are influenced by interdependencies between processes and ice sheets. We find that a global total SLR exceeding 2 m by 2100 lies within the 90% uncertainty bounds for a high emission scenario. This is more than twice the upper value put forward by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in the Fifth Assessment Report.

Places tons of people call home (such as New York) would never be the same. By the year 2100 up to about 187 million people would be forced to leave their homes and seek refuge elsewhere. Based on these findings it seems the real level of severity in regards to this is at least double the figure noted. Sea level rise has been a very controversial issue throughout the past few years and with no one finding common ground, not much is being done to combat it.

Lead author of this study, Professor Jonathan Bamber (from the University of Bristol) told BBC as follows in regards:

“For 2100, the ice sheet contribution is very likely in the range of 7-178cm but once you add in glaciers and ice caps outside the ice sheets and thermal expansion of the seas, you tip well over two meters,”

“When you start to look at these lower likelihood but still plausible values, then the experts believe that there is a small but statistically significant probability that West Antarctica will transition to a very unstable state and parts of East Antarctica will start contributing as well,”

“But it’s only at these higher probabilities for 5C that we see those type of behaviors kicking in.”

“Even a 1% probability means that a one in a hundred-year flood is something that could happen in your lifetime. I think that a 5% probability, crikey – I think that’s a serious risk.”

“This kind of survey of experts is important because computer models are not perfect at predicting the future,”

Lots of the land we will end up losing is going to be in areas that grow foods, for instance, the delta of the Nile. Tons of major cities would be affected and major cuts in our emissions need to be made in order to prevent this from happening. We are approaching a point of no return and it is becoming more and more clear that we should not be discounting the evidence before us.

To learn more on this topic please check out the video below or take the time to click here and read over the study for yourself. How do you feel about climate change and the rising sea levels? Is this an issue you are taking the time to educate yourself on or are you ignoring it like many others?